Rapid advancements in medical technology have made medical monitoring and testing equipment more portable, reliable and, consequently, desirable in all phases of patient treatment. As a result of these advancements, it has become desirable to provide constant monitoring of patient status. In order to do this, the medical equipment for monitoring patient status must be proximate the patient at all times during patient treatment. Hence, the medical equipment must be portable and transportable such that it can be readily moved from one location to another with the patient. However, while the patient is at a rest location it is desirable to mount the medical equipment. It is, therefore, desirable to provide a mounting device for medical equipment which allows the equipment to be quickly and easily removed such that it may be transported with a patient.
Further, it is noted that the cost of hospital services is constantly increasing. Foremost of these costs is the cost for room within the hospital. Hospital services, equipment manufactures, and practitioners are constantly seeking to utilize hospital space more efficiently. It is, therefore, desirable to provide a bracket for supporting hospital equipment which can be readily mounted upon support structures in spaces which are otherwise unused, thereby not requiring its own support structure for mounting.
Along these lines, it is likewise desirable that the bracket for supporting the medical equipment is not only adapted to mount to various support structure but is also adapted to be secured to the support structure in a variety of orientations such that the orientation of the support structure need not affect the orientation of the medical equipment which is supported by the bracket.